Pizza delivery driver hailed as 'hero'

ORMOND BEACH, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Customers at Mezzaluna Pizzeria in Ormond Beach say Karen Vogt is one of the favorite pizza delivery drivers in the area.  Now, she's being called a hero.

On Thursday night, she drove to a Flagler County home in Plantation Oaks to deliver a pizza to a well known elderly customer.   "When I arrived, no one answered the door, so I call up here and have them give her a call," she explained.  "I hear the phone ring, and no one answers to that, so we tried her again a few phone calls and it didn't seem right."

She couldn't see anything through the windows.  She said, "I went in through the side door to the garage.  When I walked through, she was at the front door,  she had fallen coming to the front door.  All she said was, 'I couldn't get to the door or the phone,'  so I said, 'That's okay, stay right there, don't move.'"

Vogt called her co-workers who called for an ambulance.  The next day, Vogt felt so bad that the woman didn't get her pizza, Vogt used her own money to buy another one and bring it to the woman.  "I took it over there, and she got to enjoy her pizza after all," she said.

Vogt's boss and owner of Mezzaluna, Gina Imperati, said she's proud of Vogt.   "She's such an amazing person and has been by our side from day one. So, I've known what a wonderful human being she is , I 'm just glad now that the world knows."

As for the woman who fell, she's back home and even came by the pizza place Wednesday to see Vogt.  "She's feeling much better,  and gave me a little card to say thank you, so that's nice. There's been a lot of love from this, so that's cool."

The Flagler County Sheriff' Office said they will soon be giving Vogt a citizens' award.  The woman she helped did not want to talk to us.